Just a Dance
by DigiExpert
Summary: It all started with Shirou washing up dinner dishes, Rin studying, and Saber relaxing. Of course, that old West movie starts everything in motion, that, and the fact that Saber can't bluff very well. RinxSaber


**I know I've been slacking on updates for my other Rainbow Brite story, but there's a reason. I've been working on a few other things since summer's getting shorter and teaching is getting closer. Also, I've been designing a Rainbow Brite version of Monopoly that's come along really nicely so far.**

**Some notes for this story: I have some more notes at the bottom, but I really don't want to give too much away before you read. Just know that everything is not as it seems. I can only say that I've seen the anime and have played the Fate route of the visual novel up to the point where Caster attacks Shirou at home. Also, it is a Rin/Saber story. The song used at one point is Final Distance by Utada Hikaru. The basic idea for this oneshot came from the practice dancing for the Etoile election on Strawberry Panic. It kinda went from there. Enjoy.**

**Just a Dance**

Shirou stood at the kitchen sink, washing the dishes from the night's dinner. He scraped the inside of the roasting pan, gently removing the remaining scraps of meatloaf that had been stuck to the inside of the pan. He'd made the Western style dinner that night after Rin had complained of eating one too many nights of Japanese food. Saber and Taiga had had no complaints, and Sakura had quietly helped Shirou in the kitchen. It had been a usual noisy dinner in the Emiya household.

Now was the period of rest. Taiga had walked Sakura home, never failing to spout the dangers of walking alone on the streets at night "in times like these". Saber had found some old West movie on a channel Shirou didn't even know they received. She'd gotten caught up in the thrill of the chase and Shirou knew from looking at her backside that she was watching with rapt attention. Rin sat beside her with a large tome, most likely one on magic. Shirou had noticed her lack of attention to the book whenever he glanced back from doing dishes. Rin's eyes were focused on something, or rather, someone, else. Shirou shook his head; he thought he was seeing things. He went back to work, tackling the dishes with renewed zest.

Saber's eyes never left the television set. She enjoyed this marvel of the modern world, not knowing or caring how it worked. She saw it as a story with moving pictures. This particular story revolved around cowboys and guns and she was more involved. Time and time again she would hold up her hand, forming a gun with her fingers, and shoot when the cowboys did. She concentrated on her targets, tongue off to the side of her mouth and one eye closed. She didn't hear the soft giggling coming from her right. The movie, in it's midway point, featured a dance in a barn, one that had been hastily thrown together by the folks of the town. The heroes of the film were spending the night and had been invited to come by word of mouth.

Watching with a bit of confusion, Saber took in these cowboys' attempts to dance. They clunked about the dance floor, trying to dance with the women of the town, but only managing the grace of a bear and rough-handling the women. They'd imbibed liquor in large quantities that evening, which didn't improve their so calling "dancing". Swept away in the world of the film, Saber rose and imitated one of the men. She followed his clunking, keeping her legs spread apart as they did, pretending to dance with an imaginary partner. She was shook from her world with a loud round of giggling. Quickly she turned and located the source, anger readable on her face. Her steely gaze focused on Rin. "What's so funny?!" she demanded.

Rin tried to smother her laughter, without much avail. "I'm…sorry…" she managed to say. "But your dancing…is so silly."

Saber put her hands on her hips. "I was only copying what was going on in the film. A king dances much better than those cowboys. Do you think I wasn't properly taught?" Saber was bluffing, and she knew it. Dancing was in its roots during her lifetime. Perhaps her bluff would work this time around, as long as Rin didn't know her history.

"Well, no… What I meant was—"

Saber cut her off. "A knight such as myself is schooled in the art of dancing. I do not treat my dance partners in such a rough manner," she replied calmly, placing one hand on her chest to emphasize her point. She might get away with this bluff. She—

"All right then. Let's see your skill."

"I…what?" asked Saber, becoming nervous. If she attempted to dance with Rin, her bluff would be called and she would be caught in her lie.

Rin ignored Saber's facial expressions and rose to her feet, setting the tome she had been reading out of reach. There was enough room for dancing. So far, she had played her cards right. Her lot had been lucky so far.

Saber looked to Rin and then down at her stocking feet. She couldn't think of a way out of this predicament and so decided to face her fate. She held out her hand, waiting for Rin to take hold. All at once, she felt shy and nervous. Her eyes glanced around the room, and she saw that Shirou was watching them with interest. It did nothing to calm her nerves.

Rin took Saber's outstretched hand with a firm grip, reveling in the feeling of Saber's warm skin in contact with her own. She waited for Saber to make the next move, knowing that she would take the part of the female and let Saber lead the dance, whatever she chose. She did not expect Saber to pull her close and then stare at the floor, not moving.

Saber blushed beneath her bangs. She held Rin's hand with her right hand and had her left hand placed around Rin's waist, but she could go no further. She couldn't think of any way to get herself out of this mess, nor any false dance moves that would fool Rin. She'd back herself into a corner with no escape.

Smiling softly, Rin looked down at Saber. She leaned in next to her, placing her mouth by Saber's ear. "You don't know how to dance, do you?" she whispered softly, in a tone not meant to condescend.

Still looking at the floor, Saber shook her head. She could not bring herself to look at Rin, or face being caught in her lie. She felt Rin let go of her hands and felt disgraced. She did not see Rin pick up the television remote, nor watch her flip through the channels on television. She guessed that Rin was tired of dealing with her and the movie she'd been watching and was choosing to watch something of her choice instead. She missed as Rin selected one of the music channels. The final chords of the current song faded away and the music changed to another song. It was then that Saber felt Rin take hold of her once more, their roles reversed.

Rin held Saber close. Once more she leaned close to Saber, who had gone stiff in her arms. "Relax… close your eyes and listen to the music… Trust me…" Saber's body acquiesced, and Rin began to move back and forth as she rested her forehead against Saber's. She could feel that Saber was still nervous and uncertain of what to do. "Follow my lead…"

_Though it weighs on my mind I can't ask_

_Tired from swimming to you, I fall silent…_

Shirou watched as the two danced slowly in the living room. He felt as though he was watching something meant to be between the two girls, something that he shouldn't be privy to see. His heart ached. He loved Saber, had professed this to her, and yet, she would not acknowledge his feelings in the way he longed for. Yet, she was dancing with Rin without fuss or discussion. He was baffled by this, but chose to watch silently instead of interfering, arms crossed.

_We can't dismiss this if we want to_

_If you don't feel the same then…_

_Though I don't believe in forcing things_

_It's all right if we try, if it's just a little_

_Oh, I want to be with you now_

The two girls moved together, swaying back and forth. Sometimes Rin urged movement to the right or left, but Saber found it easy to follow. Slowly, she caught on as to why Rin told her to close her eyes. Without sight, she felt the music and the beats and moved in time to them, letting her body take over. At times, she was hesitant, embarrassed by her lack of skill compared to how Rin was moving along with her. Rin always seemed to sense her unrest and rubbed her back as she moved in time to the music. She relaxed more with each passing second and was soon content to rest her head on Rin's shoulder, a soft smile playing on her face as they danced together.

_Together let's shorten this distance_

_If we do it now, we can make it_

_I don't want to be alone_

_I want to be with you now_

_Someday even this distance will embrace me_

Rin peeked at the girl she held in her arms, wondering if she was imagining it all, or if it was real. She felt the warmth of Saber's body against her own and smiled to herself, careful not to give too much of her true feelings away. The hesitation and nervousness she had felt from Saber had disappeared. Saber appeared content and lost in the music. Rin softly kissed Saber's forehead, watching with amusement as Saber's eyes slowly opened, her emerald orbs peering up at Rin. Rin smiled once more, before leaning in without hesitation or thought, and planting her lips upon Saber's. She reveled in the feeling of Saber's lips against her own. It was warm and moist and so very inviting.

_In spite of it all_

_Can a single word hurt this much?_

_Teach me loneliness _

_When you can't protect yourself_

Saber's eyes went wide as Rin kissed her. Her instinct was to pull away, but there was something niggling in the back of her mind and so her lips stayed against Rin's. Her mind was blank, save for the thought that she was indeed kissing Rin.

_It's not like I promised but…_

_Though I don't believe in forcing things_

_It's all right to try if I'm with you_

_I want to be with you now_

_Together, let's focus on this distance_

_If we do it now, we can make it_

Shirou quickly turned and averted his eyes. He felt it was indecent of him to be watching the two sharing such a moment. He would not give in to his urges to peek and watch. Images went through his head, ones from that night. When had it become something more? No, he could not allow himself to think of that event and he forced himself to clear his mind. _Focus on something else…something else… like the window… watch the light play on it and reflect the images behind me… damnit not working!_

_We can start over_

_I want to show you in words_

_I want to be with you now_

_In time, even this distance_

_Will embrace me_

Slowly, Rin pulled away from Saber and smiled down at her softly. "I'm surprised," she managed to whisper.

"Why is that?" asked Saber, quickly returning to reality and what had just occurred. She blushed as she thought of it.

"I wasn't sure you'd let me kiss you like that. I had to try anyway of course. One never knows what will happen."

"Indeed," was all Saber could say, lowering her gaze to hide her embarrassment.

"Isn't that right, Shirou?" asked Rin, turning to face him.

"Huh?" asked Shirou, trying to focus on Rin. Strangely, her face was becoming distorted and wavy.

"Shirou? Shirou?" called Rin, moving farther away from his line of view.

"…Shirou? Shirou I swear if you don't get up you're gonna find yourself in a lot of trouble!" yelled Taiga Fujimura, hovering over her student.

Shirou quickly sat up. He looked about him, gauging his surroundings. _I'm in my room… on my futon… was that all just a dream?_ He put his hand to his head, trying to figure things out.

"Are you even listening to me?!" asked Taiga, grounding her knuckles into Shirou's scalp.

"Ouch! I'm listening!" Shirou replied quickly. Anything to get rid of Taiga. "Why are you waking me up anyway?"

Taiga smiled innocently. "I got here early this morning. Sakura was busy with breakfast and sent me off to wake up your lazy butt."

"Was food involved?" asked Shirou snidely.

Tapping a finger to her chin, Taiga replied, "Maybe… but I'm off to collect!" With that, she skipped happily from Shirou's room.

Shirou rose and stretched. "That was a strange dream," he murmured to himself. "Things were out of place. That's not how things happened. And we certainly didn't have meatloaf either." The image of Rin and Saber kissing crossed his mind and he blushed. "Rin didn't feel that way about Saber either. She would have…" He was about to say "told me" but then realized she would have done no such thing. "At least it was just some crazy dream," he remarked as he left the room.

**If you've read to here, then you understand why I said things weren't as they seemed. Dreams can certainly mess around with things, eh? I did actually do a bit of research on dancing for this story. The part that still bugs me is Saber's bit with it, as research for that time period didn't have ballroom dancing or anything like that. It seemed more like dancing was just beginning, plus the Church didn't approve of it. Other than that, I'm pretty satisfied.**


End file.
